The invention relates to printers and computer networks. More particularly, the invention relates to selection of print features.
Over the last several decades, computer systems have become increasingly complex, and, at the same time, have been modified to provide increasing numbers of options, capabilities and customization features for specific tasks. Printer technology is a dramatic example of the increased capabilities that even modest modern computer systems offer compared to those of a few decades ago. Widespread adoption of features allowing on-the fly modification of print parameters (e.g., font, print size, mixed graphic/text output, selection of multiple printers, paper sources etc.) permit very complex printer operations to be carried out with relative ease, compared to what is possible with older print technologies, such as those using daisy-wheel printing systems.
The increased capabilities found within modern printer systems requires increased sophistication in the commands that are sent to the printer in order to carry out the user""s desired print options. In turn, the user has a larger number of options to select in composing a document to be printed. As a result, the need to be able to organize and to display printer options in a compact, organized and user-friendly fashion has grown dramatically.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method of displaying a print preview image of a selected page in a document includes displaying a list of user-selectable printing features and receiving a selection of one of the user-selectable printing features. The method also includes displaying a user-actuable control for the selected one of the features, displaying a print preview image which changes in response to actuation of the user-actuable control and displaying a page selector adjacent the print preview image for selecting a page to be displayed in the print preview image. The method further includes displaying indicia showing which pages within the document have had the selected one of the features from the list altered from a default setting for that feature.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an article of manufacture includes a computer usable medium hacing compute readable code embodied therein to cause a dispaly to depict a graphical user interface for setting printer options. The graphical user interface includes a first portion showing a list of print features, a second portion and a first divider separating the first and second portions. The second portion includes a first sub portion displaying a print preview image corresponding to a user-selected page within a document, a second sub portion and a second divider separating the first and second sub portions. The computer readable program code in the article of manufacture is configured to display a list of user-selectable printing features in the first portion, receive a selection of one of the user-selectable printing features and display a user-actuable control for the selected one of the features in the second sub portion. The computer readable program code in the article of manufacture is also configured to display a print preview image in the first sub portion which changes in response to actuation of the user-actuable control, display a page selector adjacent the print preview image for selecting a page to be displayed in the print preview image and display indicia showing which pages within the document have had the selected one of the features from the list altered from a default setting for that feature.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer implemented printer control system includes memory configured to provide an operating system and operative to store files representing at least one document to be printed and a display configured to provide an image of a graphical user interface in a viewing window. The graphical user interface is configured to allow user selection and modification of print engine options for printing the document and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to display a list of user-selectable printing features in a first portion of the graphical user interface, receive a selection of one of the user-selectable printing features and display a user-actuable control for the selected one of the features in a second portion of the graphical user interface. The processing circuitry is further configured to display a print preview image in a second portion which changes in response to actuation of the user-actuable control, display a page selector adjacent the print preview image for selecting a page to be displayed in the print preview image and display indicia showing which pages within the document have had the selected one of the features from the list altered from a default setting for that feature.